Back in Action at Konoha High
by DreamingofPurpleSkies
Summary: It's senior year and Naruto has returned after a two years of training overseas. With Sakura now single, will he make a move, or wait. Was his crush on Sakura a lie? Who does he really like? Bad at summaries. R&R please! On Hiatus due to new computer
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto characters, I just bend their storylines and character profiles to suit my own schemes. Bwahaha... :P

**Chapter One**

Hinata Hyuuga walked up to the school gates on the first day of her senior year of high school, feeling expectant, as though this year would be completely different from her first two years of high school. There was no specific reason. The high school had not changed in the last three years that she had been there. It was still the same white three-story building surrounded by a small lawn with shady trees for the students to relax beneath before and after hours. She looked no different from the end of last school year. She still had long black hair that had a bluish purple sheen when the light hit it, was still just short of five and a half feet, was still a rather quiet girl with a shy demeanor. She wasn't planning on changing her image, since she was happy with who she was. She was no longer the petrified antisocial girl she had been in junior high. She wasn't going to take the school by storm. She would leave that up to her best friend, Sakura Haruno, who wanted to break away from her old self after finally giving up on trying to hold herself and her boyfriend Sasuke Uchiha together.

Sasuke had never been emotional, but Sakura had still loved him for as long as any of their friends could remember. When he had finally said yes to her, she was in ecstasy. But he was never very interested and it strained Sakura to no end trying to keep him from drifting off on his own. Hinata personally thought that it was about time for Sakura to move on. He had only been holding her back and her best friend had deserved more. But that was in the past and the break up had been clean, though Sakura still stiffened when he was near, still a little hurt by it all.

Hinata was drawn away from her thoughts when, behind her, a voice called out her name enthusiastically. She turned to see Sakura herself running up to her, the arm not holding her school bag waving happily. Hinata stopped and waited for her friend to catch up. When she was finally next to her, Sakura grinned widely and bent over, catching her breath. A blue headband held her short pink hair back with a leaf symbol on it, the school's symbol. They were the Konoha Oaken Ninjas and Sakura had a lot of school spirit. She wore the school uniform, like Hinata, with navy blue pleated skirts and button up white blouses with navy colored ties. They had special gold pins on those ties to signify their class. Second years had silver and freshman had none. Hinata was a little jealous of Sakura, since she looked good in the school uniform. In just about anything, actually. Hinata's only claim to fame, so to speak, was her family's famous eyes. So pale gray they looked like molten silver, it was Hinata's one feature she was proud of and could confidently wear without worries of being one of many.

"Good morning!" Sakura finally said, straightening with another bright smile. Hinata quietly returned the greeting. Sakura looked at the school building like Hinata had been doing moments before and smiled softly.

"You know there's plenty of time before class. You didn't have to run, you know," Hinata told her. Sakura grinned and shrugged.

"It's just that you always leave early and walk to school yourself, even though you could easily take the car with Neji-san. So I wanted to meet up with you early, so we could hang out for the first day of our senior year." Sakura trailed off and looked a little serene. "It's already our senior year. This is the last year here."

"I know. It's hard to believe that after this year, we'll all be leaving for college or work or whatever," Hinata replied. They walked off together towards their homeroom class. On the way, they were joined by their other friends: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, TenTen, Inuzuka Kiba, and Akimichi Choji. Luckily, the group had scored another year together in the same homeroom. Their first year of high school had been lonely for some of them, being scattered into several different classrooms.

As they walked into the classroom, they were greeted by their homeroom teacher, Iruka-sensei. It seemed like he had followed them throughout their lives, since he had taught them in elementary school as well as junior high before following them even into high school. Hinata took a seat in the back of the classroom by the window while her friends took various seats around the room, dividing up into little clusters. Sakura took the seat in front of Hinata and TenTen sat in front of her. Ino sat to Sakura's right and Shikamaru sat in the back just one seat beyond Hinata, leaving the one next to her empty. The others dispersed themselves close by as well, with Choji in front of Shikamaru, his best friend, Shino in the second row of the second column of seats, and Kiba on the far side of the room just in front of the last row.

Sasuke walked in just a moment before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the day. Sakura stiffened, but relaxed when he sat down on the other side of the classroom, behind Kiba. She turned around to Hinata and they began to chitchat about various things they had done over the summer break.

"You know," Sakura said after a short pause. Iruka-sensei kept an eye on the class, but pretty much let them talk among themselves so long as they didn't get too loud. He would get stricter as the year got on, but for now, he let them talk off the summer energy. "It doesn't quite feel like this year should be our senior year. I mean, he hasn't come back yet. He should be here for our senior year."

Hinata knew whom Sakura was referring to, and she agreed completely. He had left over two years ago, and he hadn't been back for even a visit yet.

"I know what you mean," TenTen agreed. "You'd almost expect that grinning knucklehead to be walking through that door right now, acting as if he hadn't left at the end of our freshman year."

Sakura sighed in agreement. "He was such a dork, always grinning at everything. I know that the kendo team misses him. He was such an amazing athlete, when he was being serious." Suddenly she smiled. "You know, I got a letter from him a few weeks ago and he hinted that he might come back this way. Maybe even before we graduate. Wouldn't that be so cool? To have the nine of us back together again?"

Hinata nodded in agreement. "To be honest, I almost expect him to come through that door right now."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, almost as if summoned by Hinata's words. The girls looked up in surprise. They traded glances at one another and watched as Iruka-sensei walked to the door to greet the person. His figure blocked their view and he spoke quietly with them, so they couldn't hear a word. Watching him expectantly, the group held their breaths as Iruka-sensei turned and announced to the class the guest.

"Today, we have an unexpected arrival. Many of you will recognize him from a few years ago when he was with us." Hinata and Sakura traded astonished glances-it couldn't possibly be… "Let's give a warm welcome to our new student, Gaara from Suna High." Iruka-sensei stepped to the side, revealing a pale, quiet red head in the other school's uniform. As Iruka-sensei directed him to a seat (the one between Sasuke and Shikamaru), Hinata and Sakura exchanged disappointed glances and both girls laughed weakly.

"I almost freaked out, thinking it was really him," Sakura said. "But I suppose it's too much to think that Naruto would come back suddenly without saying a word beforehand."

"But that was so unexpected," Ino admitted. "My heart almost stopped when Gaara knocked on the door." The other girls laughed at that. Conversation turned to how long it had been since they had seen Gaara, back when the kendo team had gone to nationals with Suna jointly. Hinata let them talk as she stared out the window and thought about when she had seen Naruto last.

Naruto Uzumaki. That was a name that was practically the key word for their freshman year memories. Back then, he had been the center of the group with his silly antics and determination to be the best in the kendo club. Best in the nation, actually. Not many people had liked him, but after being partnered with him in junior high on some big project, he became friends with Sakura and Sasuke, and then the rest of the group. Back in the old days, Hinata could barely speak a coherent sentence to him without stuttering, she had been so shy. She had the biggest crush on him, and still had feelings for him, even though she tried dating Kiba when he asked her out, but it wasn't the same and they went back to being friends.

Naruto had left at the end of their first year to travel with his guardian, Lord Jiraiya, his late father's mentor. He sent letters to everyone during that time, but Hinata cherished the ones he sent to her personally, though he had always said that he had a crush on Sakura, who never took him seriously. She had always viewed him as a brotherly pest. It was his letters on hearing of Sakura and Sasuke's break up that got her through the heartbreak, helping to remind her to keep a smile on her face, though never once did he mention in his letters that he would try to take Sasuke's place. And Hinata would know, since Sakura shared all her letters with her.

When another knock came at the door ten minutes before homeroom ended, Hinata barely acknowledged it. Instead, she looked out the window at the gardens below as Iruka-sensei went to answer the door. Her daydreams were broken when she heard an "Oh!" and saw Iruka-sensei step out and close the door behind him.

The class exchanged surprised glances, wondering what caused their sensei to leave. They saw his shadow and that of another person's shorter than him talking enthusiastically. The door muffled their voices and was shaded so that the students couldn't see who the other person was. They all jumped in surprise when Iruka-sensei enveloped the other person in a bear hug as he slapped the unknown person's back enthusiastically.

Releasing the other person, Iruka-sensei walked back into the classroom, while saying, "Just wait a minute. Let me do the introductions for you." The other person chuckled and Hinata got goose bumps. She recognized that laugh.

Turning to the class, a grinning Iruka-sensei announced to the classroom, "Though he is incredibly late, I would like to introduce to you all, again, a new old student. Give a warm welcome back to-" Iruka-sensei stepped to the side to reveal a tall blonde young man, "Naruto Uzumaki!"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. But this story is mine.

**Chapter 2**

Naruto Uzumaki knocked on the door to the classroom with a grin. He was finally back after several years of training at nearly every dojo in Europe, Asia, and America, it seemed. Jiraiya, or 'that old pervert' as Naruto called him, had taken him on a tour of the world after Naruto had been seriously injured in a car accident soon after nationals. Thinking it would help speed his recovery and make him stronger, his perverted guardian had packed him up and they left. But after two years, Naruto was back for his senior year of high school.

The door slid open to reveal Iruka-sensei, his favorite teacher and kendo instructor. His eyes widened in surprise and he let out a little "Oh" before stepping out into the hall with Naruto and closing the door behind him.

"Hey there, Iruka-sensei. Long time no see!" Naruto greeted, grinning at the look on Iruka-sensei's face.

"What the hell, Naruto! What are you doing here? Why didn't you say you were coming back?" Iruka-sensei scolded him.

"Heh heh," Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head with a huge grin on his face. "You see, I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone and-" Naruto was cut off when his teacher wrapped him in a bear hug, slapping his back. Naruto returned the embrace, slapping the other man's back.

Stepping back, Iruka-sensei gave his student a good look over, as he held on to his shoulders. "You look good, Naruto. How was training? And how long are you gonna be visiting?"

"Actually, sensei, the thing is," Naruto reached into his pocket and handed his teacher an envelope, "I'm back for good. Training's over and I'm coming back to school."

Iruka-sensei looked like he could barely contain his happiness. He and Naruto were like family and they had missed each other. "This is great news! We should celebrate later. How about I take you out for dinner? The usual spot for ramen?" Naruto grinned and agreed. When he was younger, he was obsessed with ramen and Iruka-sensei often took him out to eat at a little ramen stand to celebrate after matches. "Well then, Mr. Uzumaki, I must inform you that you are late for class and you'd better get inside before I have to assign you detention."

"What?! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto protested good naturedly. Iruka opened the door and announced to the class that a new student had arrived. The class gasped when he stepped aside to reveal Naruto standing there in the doorway.

He smiled at his classmates as he walked into the classroom. He enjoyed the astonished looks on everyone's faces at his sudden and unexpected return. He stood at the front of the classroom and bowed to everyone, still grinning. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I hope that we can enjoy our senior year of high school together." He was the picture of cheekiness, with his white uniform shirt halfway tucked into his pants and the top two buttons undone, revealing a white tank beneath that was skintight, revealing the muscles that filled out his shirt. He had obviously gained an impressive figure over the years. His tie was done very loosely and his blonde hair was wild and messy as always, spiking up all over his head with a goofy grin to match.

There was silence for a few moments until Kiba shouted from the back, "You teme! Why didn't you say you were coming?" With that, his friends rose from their seats and surrounded him, receiving hugs from Sakura and Ino, a punch in the shoulder from TenTen, a headlock from Kiba, and grunts of greeting from Sasuke and Shikamaru. Naruto looked around at them all as they clamored for an explanation and saw Hinata standing in the back of the group, blushing slightly as she always had. Naruto's goofy grin got a little wider and goofier. "Hey there, Hinata-chan!"

"How was your training, Naruto-kun?" she asked, speaking for the first time to him, without stuttering. He seemed to have noticed, since he looked a little impressed. Sakura cut in and demanded that he explain himself, immediately.

"Okay, okay. You see," Naruto began, but Iruka-sensei called the class to order first.

"It's fine if you want to hear Naruto's story, but you need to sit down in your seats and stop crowding the front of the classroom!" he told them. They all walked back to the back of the room and Naruto slouched into the chair next to Hinata's, while everyone around them gathered chairs to listen.

Naruto told them about the various dojos he had been to and the sites he had seen on the way. He had trained with some very famous martial artists, not just those who specialized in kendo. "It was so intense, sometimes I would go to bed only to wake up doing pushups and sit ups, not realizing that I was still training in my sleep." He stretched his arms and propped them on the two chairs on either side of him, Shikamaru's and Hinata's. Hinata blushed a little bit, but maintained her composure. "It's so good to be back, finally. I decided that it was about time to come back, after two years, and the old pervert agreed that I should come back here to get my diploma. I thought it would be a great surprise if I just showed up on the first day. I wanted to be the first person in the room when you all walked in, but our plane was late and that old pervert wanted to move our stuff in first."

"It's so good to have you back, Naruto," Sakura told him warmly. Naruto smiled back just as warmly and Sakura was surprised to find herself blushing slightly at him. What was wrong with her?

"So you really will be here all year, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked hopefully. Naruto turned to her and grinned at her.

"I plan not to leave this place again. I'm here to stay," he replied. Just then, the bell rang and Iruka-sensei left the students for the break in between classes. Naruto got the others to tell him about life they hadn't told him about in their letters as the next teacher walked into the room. Everyone returned to their seats and Naruto remained where he was next to Hinata.

"Ah, Naruto! I heard that you made your way back here. Hope your travels went well," Kakashi-sensei said as he walked to the front of the class. "Gaara, welcome. Haven't seen you since nationals. Nice to see you joining the ranks here at Konoha High." To the rest of the class, he said, "Welcome to senior year Literature. Unfortunately for you all, the workload is just as hard as the last two years, and even harder. Try to keep up."

The class proceeded as Kakashi-sensei passed out poetry books and read poems aloud and discussed them with the class. The class passed quickly enough, though some of the students didn't enjoy it. Shikamaru had to be woken up at least twice by Choji to answer a question, though Shikamaru didn't seem to have any problem answering them to Kakashi's satisfaction.

The day went by smoothly, with everyone gathering around Naruto to hear more of his travels during breaks in between classes. When lunch finally came, Naruto pushed his Calculus book away from him with a relieved sigh. Sasuke walked up to him with a smirk,

"Having problems, baka? Can't keep up with all the time you've missed?" he asked. He and Naruto had a history of picking at each other's weak points, but surprisingly, they never got mad at each other. It seemed the two could no longer faze each other.

Naruto smirked back at him. "You wish, teme. Jiraiya slammed this stuff at me while training. He apparently didn't want to spend extra time with me in school, having to redo years when we got back. I just am not used to sitting still this long. Normally, I'd have had to run several miles by now and do ungodly amounts of other training too."

Sasuke snorted at him and slapped his shoulder. "Well, come on then. I'm hungry and the cafeteria will be full if we don't hurry."

"I'm good. I made a bento for myself this morning," Naruto admitted, pulling out a little box. He opened it and Sasuke just laughed and laughed. It was pitifully done and barely looked edible. "Shut up, teme. I just need to work a little harder at it, is all."

"Good lord, Naruto. Are you really going to eat that?" Sakura asked, looking horrified.

Naruto blushed and growled. "I said shut up. I'm eating it." He took a big bite of … something… and winced, though he tried not to show it. He forced it down and smiled weakly. "Not bad for a first try," he said, trying not to turn green.

Hinata giggled and took mercy on him. "Here, Naruto, I'll share some of my lunch with you. I always make too much in case someone forgets theirs." Naruto looked especially pleased and took a bite, after making sure that it really was alright with her. Sakura shared her meal with him too, insisting that it was unfair to make Hinata share all her meal with a glutton like Naruto. Naruto tried a bite of hers and admitted it was much better than his own and left it at that. Sakura blushed at the praise. Gaara had joined the group for lunch, having made friends with Naruto during nationals when they had met. He had been cold and distant, worse than Sasuke at the time, but being around Naruto brought out the best, or at least the better, in people and since then he had warmed up to others. The last two years while Naruto was gone, he had become friends with the other members of the kendo team as he rose up through the ranks and won at the nationals last year. He quietly sat next to Sakura, eating his own bento, made by his sister, Temari, who was in university.

The rest of the day followed that pattern. Classes would go by and Naruto would talk about his away time during breaks. When the last bell finally sounded, the group of friends gathered up their things and headed to the door.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura called just as he was leaving. "We're having a get together tonight at Hinata's to celebrate the first day of school." She ran up to him and they walked out the door together. "Well, more like mourning the end of summer vacation. Anyway, you should come, since we haven't seen you for two years."

Naruto put on a fake thinking face. "Well, I don't know. I mean, I have so much unpacking to- Duh, I'll come!" Naruto grinned his usual Naruto grin. "It'll give me a chance to hang out with my best friends."

Sakura turned a little pink and bounced happily. "Woohoo! Alright, I'll pick you up at six, okay?" she suggested, turning another shade of pink. Naruto agreed and she left for her car and Ino, whom she was giving a ride to.

Naruto smiled quietly as he watched her leave. She had to be one of his best friends. He remembered the first time they talked. He had told her that he liked her, and he had a crush on her. She had rejected him without hesitation, but he still kept saying he was in love with her for years. But the feeling faded soon after, though he never admitted that he no longer felt that way about her. He just couldn't admit who caught his attention instead. She was way out of his league and he never considered having a chance with her. Thinking of the entire day he got to sit next to her, Naruto blushed a little as he walked home. The princess of the Hyuuga Cooperation, the untouchable owner of his heart. Naruto scoffed at his cliché and cheesy thoughts. Hinata Hyuuga. She would never look his way. So instead, he continued to say that he had a crush on Sakura, who was now the sister he never had.

Shaking his head, Naruto walked into his apartment that he shared with that old pervert. His parents had died when he was little, both in a fire that his dad had saved him from, though saving him had cost his father his life. For a while, he had lived wit Iruka-sensei, who was some distant relative of his and his godfather, but after turning ten, Jiraiya became his guardian and took care of him, training him in kendo and later taking him on the world tour.

The apartment was empty, as Naruto expected it to be. The old pervert wouldn't be back for several days, since he would be off doing research for his publishing agency. He wrote extensive books on travel and local culture, so Jiraiya would rarely be home, if he ever was. That was fine with Naruto, who could take care of himself now. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw a note on the table for him.

Naruto,

I have decided that you are fit to live on your own. So I'm leaving you this apartment. The rent is paid for, but I expect you to pay for your own food and utilities. I'll send you some money every now and then, but don't expect to live on it. Getting a job will be good for you.

Study or I'll come after you and make you do hell training again.

Jiraiya

Naruto stared at the paper and crumpled it up with a shrug. It wasn't anything unexpected. Jiraiya had always encouraged independence, telling Naruto that he would soon be on his own in the world. Instead, he threw his backpack in the room that had been Jiraiya's and now would be his study, a desk and computer already set up there. He opened the fridge and pulled out an apple to munch on while he began sorting out another moving box.

After a short while, he finished moving all the contents of the kitchen boxes into their proper places and went to his room to change into casual clothes. His uniform was hung up in the closet, since Jiraiya had beat it into him that clothes that were a uniform of any kind, whether for martial arts or otherwise, were to be treated with care and respect. He stood in his boxers, the half eaten apple still hanging in his mouth, as he sorted through his dresser. Finally, he pulled out a white t-shirt that said "I do my own stunts" with a stick figure falling on its face and pulled on a pair of worn blue jeans.

Now more comfortable, he walked into the "study" and began to work on his homework, waiting for Sakura to arrive later to pick him up to take him to the princess's castle. He chuckled at himself for the dramatic imagery and went back to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and other characters. If I did, Hinata would have won against Neji, Sasuke wouldn't have left, and Sakura wouldn't have been so annoyingly boy crazy in the beginning.

**Chapter 3**

Sakura pulled up to Naruto's small house right on time. After checking her pink hair in the mirror and flashing herself a confident smile, she stepped out of the car and walked up to the house, swaying her hips unnecessarily. Feeling more excited than she should, she knocked on the front door and waited for a response. None came. Puzzled she knocked again, a little harder this time. Still there was silence.

"Naruto? It's Sakura," she called, trying the doorknob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. "Hey, I'm coming in." She walked into the home and looked around. Naruto was nowhere in sight. The two-story home was narrow and compact, made even more so by the boxes that lined the walls in many of the rooms. The only room that she saw without boxes was the kitchen. 'How like him,' Sakura thought with a smirk.

Turning to the rest of the house, Sakura cautiously called out to the missing friend. There was no reply and she wandered towards the back of the house. "Oy! Naruto! Where are you?"

At last she came across a door that was propped open by a box labeled "Text books and Study Stuff". Inside, she heard a soft snore and she knew she had found her wayward friend. "Hey, Naruto! Why didn't you…" Sakura trailed off as she burst into the room and saw Naruto's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful and kind. Sakura's heart thumped hard in her chest and she held her flaming cheeks. What was she thinking? He was Naruto. She didn't care what he looked like when he was sleeping. Even if she could see his biceps pulling the sleeves of his shirt tight as he rested his head on his arms. Shaking her head hard, she walked up to him and shook his shoulder. "Oy! Baka! Time to wake up, lazy!"

Naruto woke up slowly and languidly. He blinked up at Sakura and grinned. "What are you doing here, Sakura-chan?" he asked in a slow, lazy voice.

Sakura blushed again before getting a hold on herself. "You idiot. I'm here to take you to the party, of course! Did you forget all of a sudden?" She was _not_ thinking that Naruto sounded sexy just then. He was just her knuckleheaded friend, who wrote her such kind letters when she broke up with Sasuke… No! That was just because he was a good friend and she was sad. It meant nothing. Even if he did always have a crush on her…

Naruto stood up slowly, bringing Sakura back to reality. "Um, what?" Sakura asked, blushing when he looked at her.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking," Naruto smiled lazily, stretching. "You look good. That color really suits you," he added, glancing at her outfit. She was wearing a teal baby doll top and pale flare jeans.

Sakura couldn't stop blushing. 'How is Naruto getting to me? He's just Naruto! I feel like Hinata!' Instead, she punched Naruto playfully on the arm. "Yeah, and you look like a slob. I saw you drooling while you were sleeping."

Naruto laughed and beckoned her out of the room and she left, with him following close behind. He ushered her out the front door, holding it open for her before locking it behind him. Then he walked down to the car and hopped in, reaching over to push her door open on the driver's side before Sakura could reach for the handle. Sakura silently started the car before she could trust herself to not be as pink as her hair and speak to him. "Since when were you a gentleman? Did Jiraiya include how to treat a lady in list of things he beat into you over the years?"

"Hardly," Naruto scoffed. "That old pervert chased anything with high heels, so it was up to me to make nice with the ladies he offended so that we _both_ wouldn't be thrown into jail for harassment. And then afterwards, I just liked being nice, since people didn't get as mad at you as they did when I went around shouting that I would beat them all."

Sakura zipped into the traffic as she laughed and she drove as they chatted about the old days when Naruto was obnoxious and Sakura couldn't decide whether she admired him or couldn't stand him.

Just as the two of they were finishing laughing over some incident back in junior high when Sasuke had fallen asleep in class and Kakashi-sensei tied him to his desk before having all his students file out into the fall and yelled "Fire!" Sakura pulled into a long driveway up to Hinata's house- er- mansion. Naruto's eyes bugged out a bit at the sight of it. His tiny house could fit ten times over in that house with _plenty _of wiggle room for each house. "Holy crap!"

Sakura giggled at him as she pulled up in front of the house and parked where several others had already put their cars. "That's right. You never got to visit Hinata at home, did you? I thought that Neji once hosted a training camp though."

Naruto shrugged as they both stepped out of the car. "I didn't go, since that weekend was my visit with my parents." Sakura knew that he meant he went to visit their gravesites and to stare at the remains of the house that had burned down so many years ago. No one wanted to rebuild on that site, so it remained an empty lot where Naruto visited once a year with flowers and a bottle of sake for his dad.

Knowing that Naruto didn't like big deals made about it, Sakura instead put him in a headlock as she drug him to the doors and noogied him as she rang the door bell. After a moment, a young woman dressed as a maid answered the door, and curtsied.

"Welcome, Haruno-san. The mistress is expecting you and your companion," she said politely, beckoning them inside. Just then, Hinata skidded to a halt in front of the doors. "Oh, Mimi-chan. I told you I could answer the door. You can go relax," Hinata said, her face a little red from the run.

"Of course, mistress," Mimi said, though she obviously would ignore Hinata's suggestion of relaxing. As the maid walked away, curtsying to the girl, Hinata sighed and turned her attention to Sakura. "You're here! I'm so glad. Now the party can really start." She suddenly caught sight of Naruto, still in a headlock.

"Good afternoon, Hinata-chan. You have a great house, from what I can see." Naruto smiled as if he wasn't bent over in an uncomfortable position. "Hope you don't mind me crashing your party at Sakura's request."

"Actually, she invited you, but didn't get the chance to ask you herself, so I was her messenger," Sakura informed him. She finally released him and he straightened with a relieved sigh, straightening his shirt. He towered over Sakura and Hinata by a good half a head, if not more, surprising them both.

"Holy crap, when did you get all growed up?" Kiba asked, walking into the entrance hall where the three were still standing in the doorway. Naruto shrugged and went up to slug him on the shoulder.

"You're just saying that because I've passed you up, shorty," Naruto said, looking down an inch to look his friend in the eye.

"Oh, the testosterone posturing begins," Sakura said, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

Hinata laughed and walked up to Naruto. "Let me show you around, since you've never been here before," she offered, her cheeks pink and her eyes gleaming with determination. Naruto's eyes got wide and he quickly agreed, offering her his arm like a gentleman and a cheesy grin. Hinata giggled and blushed, but put her hand on his arm and the two walked off, with Sakura and Kiba following close behind. Kiba glanced at Sakura for a moment and she returned the look. "Don't even think about it, Kiba."

Kiba laughed and put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I didn't think so either. You just aren't my type." Sakura jokingly socked him in the arm and they settled into casual chitchat as they followed Naruto and Hinata to the den, where the others were waiting.

--

Naruto wasn't sure where his stomach was at the moment. It was either falling in a pit, or up in his throat, or just sitting there, filled with butterflies amped upon crack and caffeine. He had no idea what he had been thinking, offering Hinata his arm like a dope, but it didn't seem to matter, since she took it anyway. He could not pay attention to the tour Hinata was giving him. He was too focused on where her hand lay gently on his arm, like a butterfly.

He gave a mental shake and smiled at something Hinata said to him. When she looked at him expectantly, he realized that she had asked him a question. He laughed a little. "Sorry. My mind was wandering. Would you repeat your question?"

"I was wondering if you, um, want to go join the others now. Sakura and Kiba already left, since they didn't need the tour," Hinata said quietly, twirling her hair with her free hand. Naruto suddenly had an insane moment of jealously for that hand, since he wanted to run his hand through her hair too.

"Sounds great, Hinata-chan" Naruto agreed. The two of them set off, Naruto trying his hardest to make sense of all the hallways with Hinata's hand still on his arm. As they walked into the den, Hinata's hand dropped away from Naruto's arm and it suddenly felt very cold. With an inward sigh, Naruto followed Hinata into the den.

Inside was huge. His entire first floor could fit into this room very easily. A huge TV was sitting on one side with a huge pile of DVDs next to it. There was a round couch set into the floor and huge sitting pillows were scattered across the room. Several of these were occupied already by TenTen, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and, to his surprise, Gaara. Gaara looked a little uncomfortable, but didn't look like he was looking for an exit just yet. Sakura sat next to him and Kiba was sprawled on the couch, chatting with Sasuke and Shino.

"Well, it's about time you two got here. Did you get lost on the way?" Kiba called to them. Naruto rolled his eyes and went to sit with them. "So, after that tour, are you going to get lost?"

"Absolutely," Naruto said positively. "I don't see how Hinata-chan doesn't still, even after living here all her life." His friends laughed at that and they settled down into a conversation.

Hinata walked over and sat with Sakura and the others, her hand still warm from where it had rested on Naruto's arms. She fought hard not to blush at the thought, surprised at herself for being brave enough to take his arm. She felt like a princess when he offered his arm.

"Thank goodness, Hinata," TenTen said as the girl sat among them. "Maybe you can get Gaara to talk. You two have a lot in common." TenTen grinned mischievously and Hinata looked at her wearily. "You both are overly quiet and really close to Naruto."

Sakura rolled her eyes and came to the defense of her blushing friend. "Oh, be quiet you," she said as she punched the other girl. Turning to Gaara, she smiled warmly. "But I have to admit, I was surprised when you agreed to come tonight. What did Shikamaru do to get you to come?"

Gaara shrugged, but at least he returned Sakura's smile, albeit a small one. "I thought it'd be better than sitting at home."

Sakura laughed and agreed. "Yeah. Staying home and doing homework versus coming to Hinata's and having fun. Let me think." The others joined in her laughing, and Gaara chuckled a few times himself.

Suddenly a knock came from the open door to the den. Neji stood in the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. "Hinata-sama. Your pizzas are here," he said shortly before turning to leave.

"Hey, Neji-senpai! Long time no see!" Naruto called, getting up. Neji turned to see the blonde walking up to him.

"Naruto. When did you get back?" he asked, surprised.

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Just returned yesterday. How goes university?"

Neji gave the blonde a half smile. "It just started, but I think it'll be a good year. He turned back around. "It was nice to see you again." With that, Neji left.

As Hinata was about to pass him to head to the front for the pizzas, Naruto put a hand on her sleeve, causing her to pause. When she looked at him, he looked away, a strange look on his face. "Hinata-chan. Has he been… I mean… are things… better? He hasn't been picking on you anymore, has he?"

Hinata was surprised, and blushed. He was referring to back in junior high, when Neji resented Hinata for being her father's daughter and the heir to the family's company. He had been cruel, and during one kendo practice had beaten her pretty badly after losing control. It had been Naruto who had saved her from broken bones, or worse, when he pulled a raging Neji off of her. Naruto had received a black eye and a sprained wrist for his troubles, but he always grinned when Hinata tried to apologize and tell her that he just wanted to be the knight in shining armor, and since when did a princess apologize to her knight?

"Yeah, I mean, no. It's been fine," Hinata assured him quietly. "I mean, we don't get along, but he leaves me alone, mostly, and when he has to talk to me, he's civil." When Naruto gave her an assessing glance, she put up her hands and smiled. "Honest. He hasn't touched me since. I promise."

Naruto grinned and offered his pinky finger. "Pinky promise?" he asked, acting like a goofy kid.

Hinata wrapped her pinky around his and promised. Nodding, apparently satisfied, Naruto went to go sit with Gaara and do some catching up with him. Somehow, even though Gaara wasn't doing much talking, everyone could see that Naruto and Gaara were good friends. Hinata left and went to get the pizzas, thinking that she wouldn't wash her hands ever again. Hinata laughed silently to herself. Well, maybe not ever again. But she would be extra careful with that pinky finger.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Naruto not mine. Le sigh. If it was, Gaara would have someone to cuddle and Shino would have butterflies in his body, not beetles. Cuz that's creepy o.O

**Chapter 4**

The pizza disappeared quickly as everyone dug into the food. Naruto and Kiba laughed at Shikamaru as cheesy hung from his chin, and his usual lazy grumbling accompanied the chuckles as he wiped his face. While the others finished eating, Sakura and TenTen, with much giggling, started singing along to the music that was playing in the background, using empty soda bottles like they were microphones, purposely singing the wrong notes to the cheesy pop song, causing some to laugh along with them, while others (that is, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Choji) covered their ears, making faces.

Turning to Gaara, Naruto said in a loud whisper everyone could hear, "Remind me to never accept an invitation to a karaoke party with them. I think I'm going deaf." Gaara struggled to keep a straight face.

"I don't know," Gaara said gruffly. "You should hear Kankuro when he's drunk. It's so much worse." Naruto grinned at him, glad to hear his friend opening up a little.

"Who wants to watch a movie or two?" Kiba asked, holding up a pile of horror movies. There were some enthusiastic cheers, but a few, including Sakura and TenTen, were against his choice of movie.

"Hell no. No way am I going to watch some gory horror movie that will keep me up for weeks," TenTen said emphatically. Despite her tomboy attitude, she despised horror movies with a burning passion. Sakura agreed, nodding her head so hard, the others worried she would get whiplash.

"Aw, come on. We'll compromise," Choji said persuasively. "We watch a blood-chilling horror flick that will give you nightmares, then we'll watch some totally cheesy animated musical with singing and talking animals about love and friendship and other things vomit inducing."

TenTen and Sakura exchanged wary glances. After a few moments of silent exchanges in which only they knew what they were communicating, Sakura and TenTen agreed to the terms and everyone settled on the couches and giant pillows as Kiba fiddled with the DVD player. Sakura settled on a giant pillow, clutching a smaller one to her chest, already terrified. TenTen sat at the edge of the couch, next to Shikamaru. Gaara lounged on the other side of the couch, directly behind Sakura. Choji and Sasuke lounged in front of TenTen and Shikamaru while Ino plopped down in front of the television, eager for the movie to begin. Kiba sat in the middle of the couch, grinning wickedly, obviously ready to scare the daylights out of the girls while Naruto and Hinata sat in front of him.

"You know what, Hinata? You have an amazing horror selection for a girl," Kiba told her, slightly awed in spite of himself.

Hinata blushed slightly. She mumbled something about really liking scary movies. Seeing she was a bit embarrassed, Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shook her a bit. "Aw, come on, Hinata-chan. I think it's cool that you like these kinds of movies. Show's you've got guts."

Hinata smiled and thanked him. After a few moments, with Naruto looking down at her with a smile, she glanced away, blushing bright red. "Um, Naruto-kun? Your arm. It's still, um…"

Turning pink himself, Naruto quickly removed his arm from around her shoulders, firmly putting his hands in his lap and looked at the ground, keeping his elbows close in. "Sorry, Hinata-chan. Didn't mean to treat you like one of the guys," he apologized, rubbing the back of his head, while mentally beating the crap out of himself. What the _hell_ was he thinking?!

"T-that's alright, Naruto-kun. It was nothing," Hinata said, her face pink as she waved his apology away with frantic hands.

Naruto felt even worse, but he didn't show it. It was nothing? 'Oh shut up,' he told himself. 'You should know better than to get your hopes up. She's so far out of your league, you're lucky she lets you sit next to her.'

Luckily, the little exchange went unnoticed by anyone, thanks to the start of the movie. Almost immediately, TenTen was burying her face into the armrest of the couch. Sakura managed to hold out for the actually scary parts before burying her face into the pillow with a small shriek. She remained that way most of the movie, but every now and then, she would peek up, unable to not know what was going on (that made it scarier sometimes), but she had bad timing and always looked up whenever the killer was hacking somebody with his ax. So every peek was accompanied with a little shriek and a dive into her pillow.

Shikamaru seemed to be trying to look like he was falling asleep, but was unable, since he was woken up repeatedly by the shrieks, muffled though they were, from Sakura. There was a few times where the others jumped in surprise, followed by a few weak laughs. Ino, however, was enthralled. She never jumped, but instead lay on her pillow, gaping at the screen, obviously enjoying herself completely.

Near the end of the movie, when it was life or death for the main characters, Kiba took his chance to scare the wits out of someone. Just as the music became as sense as anything and the main characters peeked out of their hiding place to check if it was safe, Kiba suddenly grabbed Hinata's shoulders and screamed right as the killer appeared. Hinata shrieked loud enough to put Sakura to shame and practically dived into Naruto's lap, burying her face into his shoulder. He sat there stunned for a moment, his arms wide and Hinata clutched at him. He felt her heart thumping in her chest against his and a huge blush crept up his face.

Sakura, who had screamed when Hinata screamed, blew her top. "Oh my fucking god, Kiba!! What the hell were you trying to do?" she demanded, clutching her heart. "I just about died, you jackass!"

The room was silent, the movie in the background forgotten. Slowly, the group started laughing, with the exception of Sakura (who was chewing out Kiba), Hinata (who was still relearning how to breathe), and Naruto (who was relearning how to breathe too). After a few moments, Sakura joined in the laughing. Hinata, hearing this, looked up in surprise and saw her position.

"Eep!" she squeaked, scrambling out of Naruto's lap, blushing furiously. "I-I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, staring at the ground.

"Not a problem," Naruto said quietly, his eyes still incredibly wide. "You just… startled me is all."

"I'm sorry. So sorry," Hinata kept apologizing, stuttering a little every now and then, feeling humiliated.

Naruto laughed weakly. "Don't worry about it. Not your fault. Blame Kiba."

"Hey, baka. What's wrong?" Sasuke drawled, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. "It's not like you to be tongue-tied. Ever. Should we be bunkering down and waiting for the apocalypse?"

Thankful for a distraction so he could get himself under control, Naruto turned on Sasuke. "Shut up, teme. I'm not _that_ loud."

"Oh, really? Then who was it that Kakashi-sensei duct tapped shut every day whenever he walked into his class?" Sasuke inquired, not at all fazed.

"You are such an ass, Sasuke," Naruto complained. "I remember the time when Iruka-sensei taped your eyebrows up so you would stop cocking them at him whenever you were annoyed at him."

The others laughed at the two of them as they started to go at it. Sakura soon put that to a stop, announcing it was time for another movie before it got too late. Unfortunately, the next day was a school day and they couldn't overnight or stay out late. With that, Hinata disappeared to her younger sister's room to borrow a movie, suitable to Sakura and TenTen's requirements after the scary movie.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. You going to give me a ride home, too?" Naruto asked, looking at his pink-haired friend.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, evasively. "I mean, I don't want to be late for curfew." Naruto threw her a pair of his puppy eyes. They made his look so adorable. Sakura fought off the urge to hug him. What was wrong with her lately? Giving a fake sigh, Sakura consented, though they both knew that should would in the end. "Sure, I suppose. But you'll have to wait for me to drop off Gaara. He got a ride from Shino here, but since he had to leave before the movie, I offered to take him home."

"Really?" Naruto flashed her a happy grin and Sakura's stomach did flip-flops again. He turned to Gaara and asked, "So where are you staying, since Suna's too far away to take transportation?"

Gaara shrugged. "I've been set up in a boarding house nearby and I take the train."

Naruto was flabbergasted. "You have to take the train? For how long of a ride?"

Again Gaara shrugged. "About an hour and a half."

Naruto sighed. "Is the housing at least free, since you're a transfer student?" Gaara shook his head. Naruto put his hands on his hips, scowling. "Well, that just sucks too much. We'll need to do something about that."

"Oh yeah, Naruto?" Sakura laughed. "What are you going to do? March to Principal Tsunade and demand that Gaara get a chauffer to class and free rent?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nah. That'd be pointless, since the old woman's an iron hearted bitch." Sakura took a moment to hit him hard upside his head. Rubbing it, Naruto went on as if there had been no interruption. "I was going to offer him a spare room at my place. The old pervert won't be staying with me. He's off doing work for his book. So long as he's cool with sharing buying groceries and crap like that, he's welcome at my place."

"That's actually kinda nice, Naruto," Choji said, clapping him on the shoulder. Embarrassed, Naruto shrugged.

"It's just that with the house to myself, I'd have to pay for everything and I'd be bored without someone to pick on," Naruto muttered, glancing away, acting sullen. But his friends knew better. He was naturally generous and was always looking out for them, ready to give them the shirt off his back and a goofy grin on his worst day.

Gaara nodded his acceptance. "That's fine," he said. "Is it alright if I move in this weekend? I've paid for this week so far, and I'll need to make arrangements." Naruto grinned and agreed. At that moment, Hinata came in with a strange look on her face. Wordlessly, she handed Kiba the movie and returned to her spot.

Naruto looked at her worriedly. Was she upset because she had hugged him? Did he somehow insult her? He had secretly enjoyed it, but what if Hinata hadn't wanted to do anything of the sort and she now regretted it? Naruto worried as he watched her out of the corner of his eye while the movie began playing.

During the opening song, Hinata sighed and buried her face into a pillow. After about a quarter of the movie, Hinata stood up abruptly and stalked out of the room, offering no explanation. A couple people exchanged worried glances.

"What's wrong with her" TenTen asked, staring at the door through which Hinata had disappeared. "I mean, she got over the thing that had happened earlier-ow! What was that for, Shika?"

"Shut up, troublesome woman," he told her with a gusty sigh. "You don't want to let him know if Hinata doesn't want to tell him," he added in an even quieter voice that only she could hear. TenTen blushed, realizing she almost gave away the quiet girl's secret crush on Naruto.

"I'll go check on her," Naruto volunteered, quickly getting up and following her. Which could have been a huge mistake, considering he would have easily gotten lost in the big house.

Luckily for him, Hinata was just down the hall, muttering to herself, hugging herself tightly. Carefully, Naruto approached her so he didn't startle her.

"-not a big deal. It's all right. They're just cartoons. They can't do anything to you, Hinata," she was muttering as she paced back and forth at the end of the hall.

"Um, Hinata-chan?" Naruto said quietly. "Are you alright?"

Hinata looked up, clearly startled. "Oh my goodness! Naruto-kun! How long have you been standing there?" she asked, embarrassed, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Why couldn't she look at him without turning pink? Just once, she wanted to look at him without looking like she was getting a fever!

"Not long. Are you all right? You just left without saying anything and you've been acting a little, well, strange since before the movie started," Naruto told her. He stood in front of her little frame awkwardly, not sure what to do with his hands before settling with shoving them in his pockets.

"Ah, no. It's just, well," Hinata quieted as she spoke until she was silent. Suddenly, as if she suddenly summoned up the courage to say something, her cheeks bright pink, she announced, "Actually, I'm scared of those movies, of the little animals that sing and dance." She refused to meet his eyes, afraid he would laugh. When she looked up, he did look like he wanted to laugh, but, strangely, also a little relieved. "It's not funny! I was traumatized as a little girl when I went to see a show and went back stage where the characters were standing around. When one of them took off his head and started smoking a cigarette, I started freaking out and… You're laughing," she suddenly realized. "Don't laugh at me! It's not funny!"

Naruto accidentally let out a chuckle as he uncovered his mouth to deny that fact. "Sorry, sorry," he said instead, unable to deny it now. "It's actually kinda cute, though. To think that you, Hinata-chan, are afraid of talking cartoon animals is just…" Naruto muffled another chuckle that attempted to escape.

Hinata tried to scowl, but couldn't. Did he just say that she was cute? She blushed again, though for a different reason this time. She tried to glare at him, but ended up only looking a little stern. "You can't say a word, do you understand? Not to anyone. Or… or… I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" Naruto asked, teasingly, leaning in close.

"Or I'll never speak to you again," Hinata announced before flouncing down the hall, away from the den. Naruto protested and followed after her. Soon he realized that he was thoroughly lost, and was following Hinata now because she was the only thing keeping him from never finding the den again.

"Oy! Hinata-chan!" Naruto called, picking up his pace and catching up to the dark hair girl. "I'm sorry. I was only kidding. I wasn't going to say anything! I swear!" Hinata looked up at him and smiled, coming to a stop. She giggled and nodded. He followed closely at her heels as she kept walking. "Just promise me you won't leave me alone," Naruto practically begged. "I have no idea where I am and I think I'll starve to death before finding the kitchen, den, or the exit."

"You must have a terrible sense of direction, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a giggle. "Since we're right where we started. That room's the den," she added, pointing at an open door at the end of the hall. Naruto looked dumbfounded before chuckling a little at himself. The pair walked toward the den, but Hinata stopped him before they went in. "Now remember your promise," she told him sternly, pointing a finger at him.

"Yes, ma'am," Naruto said. "I'd hate for you to stop talking to me. I'd probably die," he added quietly in a tone Hinata couldn't name. Before she could comment, he walked in and Hinata was forced to follow, with an excuse that the pizza hadn't agreed with her all of a sudden. Her friends accepted this story and the movie soon ended, as all singing animated cartoons should, in Hinata's opinion.

As the last of the popcorn was quickly eaten up, the group began getting ready to go. It was already past eleven, and there was school the next day to consider. The ride back to their respective houses with Sakura, Gaara, and Naruto was full of light chitchat about the old days and people they had met over the years. Gaara walked up to his apartment with a small wave to Sakura and Naruto when they made his stop. Sakura honked her horn once, aware that the neighbors might not appreciate it, and drove off.

"Man, that was great," Naruto said, leaning back in his seat and stretching. Sakura glanced over at him and blushed as the streetlights lit him up, revealing his shirt stretched tight over his chest. He looked _really _good. Quickly, she whipped her head towards the road, thankful that the darkness hid her blush.

They drove in silence. Naruto was looking out the window, enjoying watching familiar sights pass by. Sakura kept stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eyes. Realizing what she was doing, she gave herself a mental shake and focused on the road. 'You're acting like a love-sick girl, Sakura,' she told herself sternly. 'And what of it?' her other half retorted. 'It's not like you're attached, and you have liked him for a while. Since before you and Sasuke broke up.' 'Shut up,' she snapped to herself. 'This conversation isn't even happening.'

"Well, this is my stop," Naruto announced as Sakura pulled up to his house. "Thanks for the ride, Sakura-chan. See you at school tomorrow." He blew her a kiss with a wicked grin on his face before exiting the car. He didn't look back as he walked up to his door and got out his key, which was a good thing, since the light from the light post would have given away Sakura's incredible blush.

'Told you so,' that annoying other voice in her head told her smugly. 'So what are you going to do about it?'

"Absolutely nothing," she muttered to herself as she drove away without looking back to wave at Naruto. Naruto, oblivious, couldn't see that she didn't return the gesture, before he entered the house and collapsed on his bed, reliving the moments when it was just himself and Hinata over and over in his head, realizing what a complete idiot he had been. Burying his head in his pillow, he let out an aggravated groan at himself before drifting off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. If it were, this would not be here, it would be published worldwide for my own profit... Bwahaha.

**Chapter 5**

The next morning was a Friday, since the schools in Konoha started on Thursdays, for reasons Naruto couldn't fathom. But he was nonetheless thankful. After waking up to an empty house, his morning was far too quiet and the introduction of Gaara, even as quiet as he was, would be a blessing. Being quiet like this reminded him of the early days, before he met Sasuke and Sakura. He had no one back then, only Iruka-sensei sometimes. Back then he would stop eating, stop sleeping, unaware of how much time went by, with no one there to remind him that time was moving.

Shaking himself, he thrust away those thoughts. Things weren't like that anymore. And with his stomach reminding him that food was of the utmost importance, he pulled on an apron and set about in an attempt to make a better lunch than the day before. An hour later, as he walked out of the house, Naruto wished he had settled for a simple sandwich. His poor excuse for a lunch sat in his bag like an overused regifting gift. Maybe this time it was edible, he thought without much hope.

He met up with Shikamaru, who, as it turned out, lived near enough that he and Naruto walked the same route to school. He gave a lazy wave to his lazy friend, tired enough to enjoy Shikamaru's usual silence.

Naruto felt that he could have slept through homeroom peacefully. If only his friends would let him. Apparently, the novelty of him being back hadn't worn off yet, since they were still demanding stories of his escapades in their absence.

Naruto talked to Gaara during the breaks. The two of them worked out a time for Gaara to come and move in, which pretty much consisted of them finding someone willing to drive Gaara's stuff over to Naruto's. Naruto managed to rope Sasuke, Shikamaru, and the girls into helping out.

Classes went well for Naruto, since Jiraiya had been such a stickler for learning, but when it was time for home economics, Naruto was floundering. It was right after lunch (where once again, he ended up having to mooch off others lunches to get by, his lunch being inedible and his friends too kind hearted to leave him to starve) and it had to be Naruto's worst subject. And besides that, the teacher threw them a curve ball no one was suspecting.

"Alright everyone. Yesterday was a nice and simple get to know you class, but today, we're getting into the real meat of the class," Kurenai announced as the class stood around several sets of ovens and sinks. "Since you are all seniors, you will be leaving school to move on to living on your own, independently. But none of you know a damned thing about it. How do you cook for yourself? How do you buy groceries? Pay bills?"

Kurenai paused and looked around the class, which looked bored. She decided to amp up her little prep speech. "You have no idea how to be on your own, and even less how to live married. So to help prepare you for the sort of situations that may arise in the future, I'm going to instruct you on life after school.

"I will split everyone into 'married' couples and together you will work together in class, learning how to cook, mend clothes, manage bills, and other things that will hit you further down the road of life, so that when the time comes for your futures to meet up with you, you will be a little more prepared than you are now."

The class looked at each other in surprise. 'Well, isn't this just dandy,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Kurenai-sensei is up to another of her little kicks and is taking it out on us. She must be worried about getting married to Asuma-sensei.'

"Now, if you all would pair up with your partner as I read them off by one of the stations, we can get started. First off: Ino and Shikamaru." The two of them didn't look exactly thrilled, but neither one said anything, though Shikamaru looked like he wanted to grumble about how troublesome the entire thing was. "Second: TenTen and Sasuke. Third: Hinata and Naruto. Fourth…" Naruto was gaping at the teacher. He was paired up with Hinata? Was this some sort of cruel joke they were playing on him? He didn't get paired up with people like Hinata. They were above his level. She was-

"Um, Naruto? Do you mind if we take this station?" Hinata asked, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Nope. Where ever you want is perfectly fine by me," he replied quickly. He wanted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming, but didn't want her to ask him if he had gone mental.

"So," Hinata began, blushing a little, "even though this is a strange assignment, being 'm-m-married,' let's try to do our best, t-together, alright?"

Naruto smiled warmly, thanking whatever god decided to play this prank on him. He knew she was beyond his reach, but any time he got to spend with her was well worth it. "Alright, Hinata-chan. But you'll have to be kind to me," he said with a smile. "I'm terrible at home stuff, as you've seen from my failures at bentos."

"Well," Hinata said, twiddling her fingers and staring at the countertop in front of her, "I could help you learn to cook. And in the meantime, I could make you lunch." Suddenly her face became incredibly red. "I mean, since we're partners and we-have-to-help-each-other-out-and-all-that," she finished in a rush.

Naruto looked astonished, and looked away. The god must really like picking on him, and Naruto was looking forward to putting offerings at the god's shrine. He was blushing so hard, he was sure he was turning his hair red. He coughed. "Yeah, that would be great Hinata-chan. That would be a great help."

Hinata looked relieved and smiled at him. "Alright. So I'll bring you something on Monday and we can start practicing this weekend, so you'll be a great cook in no time!"

At that moment, Kurenai-sensei reclaimed the class's attention after finishing settling everyone. Naruto was interested in whom his other friends paired up with. Sakura was with Gaara, and Choji and Kiba were paired with two girls Naruto didn't recognize. Since none of the boys looked horrified by their choices, and the girls weren't sighing or fainting, or glaring daggers, Naruto could tell that there weren't going to be many problems. No crazy fan girls of their partners or of other guys in the class. He had remembered how it had been in junior high, when the girls still thought that Sasuke was a pre-puberty god walking the earth. Naruto shuddered a little at the memory, of the gay accusations from both the haters and the hopefuls. The rumors about both Naruto and Sakura pairing up with Sasuke had been enough to mildly scar the three of them for life.

Kurenai was telling the students what the requirements of the course was to be- both members of the couples would be required to master the tasks together and manage a 'budget' that Kurenai would design for them to use, to help pay for bills and other things the couple would be 'spending'. She also required that the class either do community service or to get a part time job, to gain experience of having responsibilities outside house chores.

As they returned to their classroom, Naruto sighed. When Hinata glanced at him, a little worried, he smiled in reassurance. "Don't worry about it. It's just I was going to be getting a job for myself anyway, but now that she's requiring it, earning some money is going to feel like doing homework."

Hinata giggled at him as they sat in their seats, waiting for their next teacher to come in for their lesson. Hinata had pulled out her Calculus book and was staring at the problems with (Naruto felt) an incredibly adorable scrunch in her forehead. Naruto watched her out of the corner of his eye as he worked on the same work, working through the homework at a fairly steady pace. He had finished at least ten problems before noticing that she had not moved her pencil except to tap it on the page.

"Um, Hinata-chan?" Naruto began quietly. She didn't seem to hear, her forehead still scrunch cutely in concentration. Naruto leaned in closer. "Hey, Hinata-chan." Still no response. Naruto scooted his chair even closer to her and spoke next to her ear, "Oy, Hinata-chan!"

The poor, quiet girl jumped about three feet, banging her legs on the desk and nearly throwing her book at Sakura in front of her. "Holy crap!" she gasped.

Naruto backed up immediately. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. Are you alright?"

Holding her heart, and hoping he wouldn't think her blush was anything but from surprise, she turned to him and nodded. Naruto looked apologetic as he continued. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. It's just you seemed stuck on the homework." Blushing again, Hinata nodded. She hated math and math hated her even more.

Naruto knew he was pushing the god who was pranking him. He knew that will his whole being. But Naruto felt that he might as well go ahead and push it even further to make it the joke of the century and ask anyway. "Well, since you're being so great and helping me out in home economics, I thought that maybe, if you needed the help, well, I might be able to help you out, if you're all right with the idea, of me maybe helping you out with math," Naruto finally managed to say, after more 'maybes' than Sakura used the first time she asked Sasuke out.

Hinata blushed deep red as she stared at him. Naruto put up his hands and waved them frantically in the air. "I mean, if you want to ask someone else, like Sakura, I totally understand. I mean, she will probably be a better teacher than me and-"

"N-no, that's alright," Hinata interrupted.

Naruto hung his head. "Yeah, I thought not. Forget what I said then."

"T-that's not what I meant," Hinata said quickly, leaning towards him. "I would love it if you would help me out in calculus. With your help, I'm sure I can understand it."

Naruto leaned back and blushed, his body rigid. "Alright then. When do you want to work on it, then?"

Just then, their teacher walked in, scowling at the class. Naruto sighed and sank into his seat. He hated Ebisu-sensei almost as much as the teacher hated him. Naruto didn't know why the teacher was out to get him, but he worked extra hard in the class so he didn't give the teacher an extra reason to single him out. Luckily for Naruto, this was the last class of the day, so as soon as it was over, he planned on bolting out as fast as he could.

As the teacher droned on and on about ancient civilizations that few people cared about, Naruto glanced beside him to see Hinata furiously writing. He was mildly surprised. Ebisu was practically reading straight from the textbook. Notes weren't necessary. Especially since she kept alternating pens. Suddenly, she slid the paper off her desk and let it fall to the floor. After a second or two to make sure Ebisu wasn't watching, she reached down and passed it to Naruto.

Naruto looked at her in surprise, and she whispered, "Here, Naruto. You dropped this. The notes in blue seem to be important."

Naruto took it and glanced at it. It was notes for the class, but every now and then there was a blue letter that stood out against the black. He had just finished glancing over the page when it was snatched from his grasp.

"Passing notes, are we, Uzumaki?" Ebisu sneered. "Not back a day and already causing problems. Let's read this to the rest of the class, shall we? 'The Roman government built citadels and aqueducts in the capitol city-" Ebisu stopped, glaring at the page. "What is this, Uzumaki? Trying to make a fool of me?"

Naruto shook his head, trying to keep a straight face. "No sir. I was taking notes. It just fell to the floor when Hinata-chan handed to me." Ebisu glared daggers at Naruto, but could find no fault. He grumbled something about watching Naruto, but resumed his reciting at the front of the class.

Naruto took out a spare sheet of paper and began writing out the blue letters. Hinata was brilliant. She disguised her note in class notes, so that they couldn't get in trouble with the teachers. Keeping up the pretension of taking notes, he kept glancing at the teacher as he wrote. Soon, he deciphered the message.

'_Naruto-kun. Is tonight all right to work on the homework? Since we're helping Gaara tomorrow and I thought Sunday we could practice making something together. Let me know if this is a problem, of course. I wouldn't want to intrude. Hinata'_

Naruto read over his note, to make sure he got it right. He would get to see Hinata every day this weekend? And twice by himself? He considered what sacrifice to offer to the god. Was a lamb too much for this? Or maybe he could offer his beloved pair of training gloves for kendo, once he found that shrine. An alter just might be erected in his closet.

Instead, he turned to Hinata and gave her the thumbs up sign, to let her know that it was all right by him, once Ebisu's back was turned to scold some other unlucky student. Hinata blushed and nodded back. Just then, the bell rang and the students began gathering their things and Hinata walked towards the exit with Naruto.

"If you don't mind," Hinata began, not looking Naruto in the face, "I thought that maybe we could work on it right away. We could do it at your house and I could make you dinner in payment."

Inside his head, Naruto was doing a little jig and dancing around a huge bonfire that lit up his face. Quickly, he regained composure, thinking to himself that if he kept blushing like that, the rest of his body would atrophy from lack of blood.

--

Little did he know that Hinata was thinking the same thing herself at that exact moment. Luckily she was saved from herself by TenTen, who came running up to her just as they were walking out the front doors.

"Hey, Hinata!" she called. "Where are you going with Naruto?" She finally caught up to them and grinned mischievously. "You two aren't going on a date, now are you?"

Hinata turned bright red and was about to stammer out an excuse when Naruto next to her replied for her, in such a calm voice that Hinata's heart stopped for a beat. "Of course not, TenTen. You have spent way too much time reading romance books. Hinata-chan and I have a deal where I teach her math, she makes me food." Naruto grinned his trademark smile and looked down at Hinata. "Isn't that right, Hinata-chan?"

Feeling like her hopes had just washed down the toilet, though she couldn't figure out what she had been expecting, Hinata nodded, looking at the ground. But did he have to say it as if it were just something between friends? Which is what they were, but still. She shook herself mentally. She had to pull herself together. "Did you need something, TenTen?" she asked the other girl, who was looking back and forth between the two.

"Yeah. What did we have to read for Kakashi-sensei's class?" TenTen asked. "I was so busy trying not to sleep that I forgot to write down the assignment from the board." Hinata smiled and told her. TenTen thanked her and dashed off, racing to get a ride from Ino before she left.

When they caught up to Shikamaru about a block from the school, they were silent, not speaking to each other. Hinata walked between the two boys, her head down, with Naruto to her right and Shikamaru to her left. If she hadn't been a little depressed, she would have giggled at how the two boys mirrored each other, both with their bags hanging from their hands, which were behind their heads as they stared off into space above the line of buildings in front of them.

When they finally split up, with Shikamaru going one way and the other two going the other, Shikamaru looked at them and muttered, "Troublesome fools. Be over it by the time we move Gaara in tomorrow," he called back to them as he walked off. The two exchanged confused glances.

"Shikamaru-kun's pretty strange, isn't he?" Hinata said tentatively.

Naruto nodded, agreeing. They walked for a few minutes before he suddenly stopped and dropped his hands to his sides with a sigh. Hinata turned around to see what happened to him. "Hinata-chan. I'm sorry about earlier, if I offended you. I would help you out with your work even if you didn't offer making me dinner. I guess I worded that badly and hurt your feelings, didn't I?" Naruto said, looking at the pavement.

Hinata stared at him and suddenly started giggling. "Is that what was bothering you?" she asked, smiling at him. "Don't worry. I'm not mad at you or anything. I was just lost in thought myself." She walked up to him and patted his arm. "Ne? So are we good?"

With a relieved smile, Naruto nodded and they walked off to his house, just as quietly as before, but this time with smiles on their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: ... you know the drill. I don't own anything but this particular story.

Thanks so much to those of you who have reviewed! Here's the next chapter.

**Chapter 6**

"You'll have to excuse the clutter," Naruto told her politely, holding his door open for her. "I'm still organizing stuff."

Hinata shrugged and walked in, with Naruto following close behind. She took a few steps in before stopping, not sure which direction to go. She heard the door close softly behind her and suddenly heard Naruto speak right next to her ear. "Why don't we go to the kitchen to do this?" he suggested. Hinata felt his warm breath on her ear and she fought back a face-consuming blush, only partially succeeding. He pulled away, seeing that he had surprised her. "I have a nice counter in there and that room's the cleanest anyway."

"Sure," Hinata agreed. In the back of her mind, she was a little relieved. She didn't know what she would have done if they had studied in his room instead. Naruto led her through a door-less arch to reveal the kitchen. Indeed, it seemed to be the only room in the house that didn't have boxes stacked around. To the left, near the wall, was a small table with three chairs around it. To the right was the rest of the kitchen. It was small, but had all the appliances a house would need to make a real meal. The short fridge stood at one end of the counters, with a sink next to it. There was a small counter space between the sink and the electric stove, which had a glass top. A microwave sat on another piece of stovetop, as did quite a few of the bigger cooking utensils. Naruto wouldn't have had enough counter space, except for the fact that he had a little island in the middle of the room with four tall stools around it; making it the perfect place to gather while a meal was being cooked. Or for two people to do their homework.

Naruto flipped his backpack on top of the counter and motioned for Hinata to follow suit. They shortly had their calculus books out and began to settle down into the work. After a few moments, Naruto stood up. "I almost forgot. Would you like something to drink, Hinata-chan?"

"Um, yes, thank you. If it's no trouble, of course," Hinata replied a little nervously. Naruto chuckled and went to the fridge, grabbing some sodas out. He walked over to the counter and handed one over to her. Hinata accepted it, causing their fingers to brush. Hinata was quite proud of herself that she didn't cry out in surprise and drop the can, blushing furiously. Now all she did was blush furiously. She was making progress.

Naruto opened his can and gulped down half its contents. Setting it next to him, he sat next to Hinata and pulled her book over so they shared it. "All right. Now it's time to get to work. Where were you having problems?"

"Ah, um, right here. When it tells us to-" Hinata continued, pointing to several problems. Naruto felt a little bad for her. She could do little with any of the problems beside write them down in her notebook. Good think Asuma-sensei didn't make them turn in homework all the time. Otherwise, Hinata would have been in a really bad position.

Naruto nodded and took her pencil, writing out the first problem on his paper. "All right. We'll do this problem step by step until you understand what we're doing and why. Sound good?" Hinata nodded and turned her attention to the problem. Naruto slowly and confidently showed her each step and explained what he was doing the entire time. He asked her what the answers were to the micro steps of each step and, after about an hour of doing several practice problems, Hinata was able to complete a problem on her own, though she had a lot of reminders from Naruto when she got stuck. The two huddled together over the paper as Naruto guided Hinata through a few more problems.

They had just finished the math homework as Naruto stopped to stretch, grinning at Hinata in congratulations, when Naruto's stomach suddenly growled loudly. He stopped mid-stretch, a blush appearing on his face.

Hinata giggled and hopped off the stool. She was just short enough that when she sat on the stool, her feet dangled like a little kid. Naruto couldn't help but think this was precious, but said nothing. "Sounds like it's my turn to hold up my end of the bargain," Hinata said brightly. Naruto nodded happily, eager to eat a meal made by her. "So what would you like me to make? Ramen?"

Naruto laughed heartily. "Well, I suppose you could. But I don't particularly mind. I'd eat day old oatmeal, so long as it's made by you."

Hinata blushed scarlet, obscenely pleased by that statement. He wanted to eat anything she cooked? She stared down at the ground, scuffing her socks against the tile floor. Naruto must have seen that she looked uncomfortable, since he revised his statement quickly.

"Um, what I meant was that since Hinata-chan is such a good cook, whatever she makes is bound to be delicious, so I'll be happy to eat whatever Hinata-chan wants to make for me," Naruto said, beating the crap out of himself inside his head. 'There I go again,'he thought to himself savagely. 'I'm going to look like a total ass in front of her again. Must remember she's just being nice to me. She won't appreciate me going nuts in front of her.'

"Well, then I'll just rummage around and whip something good up for you," Hinata said, rolling up her sleeves with a fiercely determined look on her face. You just sit back and relax while I work." She found an apron hanging next to the stove and put it on over her school uniform, humming quietly to herself as she went through his cupboards. Naruto thanked god that he had gone shopping a few days beforehand, thinking that he would teach himself how to make a few meals over the weekend, so Hinata had a lot of stuff to work with.

Naruto sat at the island, feeling a little useless. He watched as Hinata pulled her hair back with a spare hair tie, before pulling out a large, sharp knife and many different vegetables. She started chopping the vegetables and Naruto was glad she wasn't facing him, so she didn't see him have to stop a nosebleed at seeing her look so cute.

'She looks like a young housewife,' Naruto thought, watching her putting the vegetables in a pot that was boiling on the stovetop. He was like a mini hurricane in his kitchen, so incredibly efficient. He laid his head in his arms, watching her lazily, with a little smile of contentment on his face.

Unfortunately, the doorbell ringing ruined his little fantasy he was building up in his mind of him and Hinata living together as a married couple. With a sigh and a silent grumble, he got up and headed towards the door. Hinata paused in her work to watch him go. Looking back, Naruto smiled at her. "I'll be right back."

Walking to the front door, he thought very dangerous thoughts to himself about what he would do to the intrusive visitor that ruined his peace. As he opened the door, he pushed such thoughts aside before looking at the person on his doorstop. It was Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura greeted him cheerily. She held up a bag of take-out ramen from his favorite restaurant. "Since you're hopeless when it comes to cooking, I figured that I would treat you to something to eat so you don't go hungry tonight."

She pushed past him toward the kitchen. Naruto hesitantly closed the door behind her before following her. "Um, actually, Sakura-chan, I-"

Sakura stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, seeing Hinata standing there, holding a large spoon, still wearing Naruto's goofy "Kiss the Cook" apron. "Oh. Hey, Hinata," Sakura greeted, not as enthusiastically. "What are you doing here?" Naruto noticed a change in her tone, but he couldn't believe that Sakura would be unhappy to see her friend, so he pushed the thought away.

"Sakura-chan! Um, actually, I'm here to make Naruto-kun dinner," Hinata answered hesitantly.

"Really?" Sakura asked, her tone as strange as before. "I see."

"Hinata-chan agreed to make me dinner in return for me helping her with Calculus. Though, actually, she's actually giving me cooking lessons, so my helping her with math is me repaying her," Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, then never mind," Sakura said, whipping around and striding to the door as fast as she could without actually running. "I'll just take these home for myself."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, confused as she whipped past him. He turned to watch her figure retreating quickly out the door before closing it, just softly enough to not be called slammed. He turned to Hinata, perplexed at his other friend's behavior. "What was wrong with Sakura-chan?" Hinata looked back at him and didn't answer, looking as confused as Naruto.

On the other side of the door, Sakura dropped her head in shame. She slumped towards her car, throwing the boxes of ramen in the passenger seat before whipping out of the driveway. She sped down the street, trying to get away from the sight in Naruto's kitchen.

Hinata had been standing there with delicious food filling the room with amazing smells. She looked like she had belonged there. Sakura gasped as her stomach wrenched at her. Was she jealous of her friend? She knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto almost before her pale-eyed friend had. Now that she and Naruto were finally hanging out more, Sakura should be proud and happy for her. But instead, she felt bitter. And why was the thought that Naruto had always said he liked her so comforting? It wasn't like she had feelings for Naruto, right?

Sakura pulled to a stop in a parking lot as the sun began to set, realization seizing her. She dropped her head onto the steering wheel, feeling disgusted at herself for the feelings she had. She was jealous and bitter to one of her best friends. And she found that she was falling in love with Naruto.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry the last chapter was so short. I'll make it up to you with this one, I promise.

Usual Disclaimer: you know the drill… not mine, otherwise Lee's eyebrows wouldn't be so big and he would not be wearing a body suit. Nor would Gai.

**Chapter 7**

Sakura drove home slowly, her gut twisting painfully. She needed to talk to someone. Someone who might be able to talk her out of this feeling, tell her that this was all her imagination or bad cafeteria food. Something other than a betrayal of her best friend by liking her other best friend.

Sakura dialed Ino's number as she drove, heading to her friend's house, praying the girl was home and not too busy for Sakura's troubles. The phone rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello, Yamanaka residence," she heard Ino say.

"Oh my god, Ino. Please tell me you're home," Sakura practically sobbed into the phone. There was a little pause on the other side of the line, obviously Ino being stunned. It was a far time between the few times Sakura called her like this. The last time was when she broke up with Sasuke, months ago. Before that, Ino couldn't remember a time where Sakura sounded so upset.

"Sakura? Yeah, of course I'm home. What flavor of ice cream do you need?" Ino asked automatically. Sakura's response would be what Ino judged the crisis by.

"I need cookie dough, and I need a gallon," Sakura said, shutting her phone. Moments later, she pulled into Ino's driveway. She parked her car and practically flew to the door. Ino met her there, opening the door before Sakura had to ring the bell.

"That bad, huh?" Ino asked, stepping aside so Sakura could walk in. Cookie dough was a level two emergency. Only breaking up with Sasuke was higher, a level one chocolate fudge brownie mudslide emergency. Sakura only nodded and Ino led her into the kitchen, which was thankfully empty of her parents and little brother.

"Where is everyone?" Sakura asked, looking around the room. Normally, this was the point of traffic for Ino's family, where everyone spent most of their day. This time of day, at least one parent should have been making dinner and her little brother making a pest of himself.

"The monster had a baseball game, so we're on our own for a few hours," Ino informed her, passing her a bowl of ice cream. Sakura accepted it, but didn't eat anything. Ino sat in front of her own bowl but didn't touch it either. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Sakura stared down at her bowl for a few moments, trying to put it into words. "I-I think I'm in love with Naruto," Sakura finally admitted miserably.

Ino stared at her and pushed her bowl away with a laugh. "Is that what this is about? This isn't an emergency, Sakura. This is a celebration. You should have told me to get out the mint chip."

Sakura shook her head, poking at her slowly melting ice cream with her spoon. "You don't understand. I can't be in love with Naruto. It's wrong."

Ino gave her a disbelieving look. "Oh, come on, Sakura. What's wrong with Naruto? I mean, yeah, he was a little annoying and always hyper before, but he's grown up now. And besides, even if he was still like he was back in junior high, that boy has a heart of gold, that, may I remind you, he has constantly said was yours for the taking."

This only served to make Sakura feel even more miserable. "I know. But that's not the problem."

"Then what is?" Ino asked, exasperated with her friend. "It's not like you have anyone else right now. You and Sasuke have been done for at least a year, for all that you were going through the motions up until last April."

"The problem is that I'm betraying Hinata," Sakura gushed at last, getting to the core of her hurt. She and the girl had become so close over the years. Hinata was always the quiet rock of Sakura's life, the one to whom Sakura went with her little troubles that she was too embarrassed to share with anyone else. It was Hinata that Sakura had gone to when she first started having second thoughts about Sasuke. She had been the one to encourage Sakura to end it, saying that the girl deserved someone who was able to return her feelings that Sasuke couldn't.

Ino seemed taken aback by her friend's declaration. But she had to admit that it would make sense to Sakura. Even if Ino felt she was wrong. "Sakura, seriously. You aren't betraying your friend because you fall in love. Hinata can't possibly blame you for your feelings," Ino told her sternly.

Sakura protested, wiping tears from her eyes. "But Hinata has always liked Naruto. Always. Even back when we barely spoke to him and were always picking on him for being obnoxious. Now I suddenly decide that I like him, now that Sasuke isn't around and he finally comes back after being gone for two years? How could she not hate me?"

Ino sighed and grasped her friends hands. "Sakura. You and Hinata are as close as you and I. I have to admit, she'll be pissed. She may even decide not to speak to you for a while, but in the end, she can't change who Naruto chooses, cruel as that my seem."

Sakura shook her head, not liking it put in those terms. It made Sakura feel worse, not better. Changing tactics, she tried to convince her friend to talk her out of her own feelings, since Sakura was unable to do it on her own. "Naruto won't believe that I like him," Sakura said. "He'll just think that I'm using him as a replacement for Sasuke. So will everyone else. They know that I've suddenly changed directions."

Ino sighed, giving up her attempts to calm her friend down and simply listened, squeezing her friends hands as Sakura let everything flow out of her.

"But that wouldn't be true," Sakura sobbed. "Because I think I've known this for a long time. I think I've loved Naruto long before I broke up with Sasuke, before he came back to us." Ino raised her eyebrows at this. When had that happened? She said nothing, as Sakura dived straight into her explanation unprompted. "I've loved him since he started writing letters home and I realized how much I missed him. There's a blank space there where he used to be and I didn't know he had filled it until he had disappeared. I read his letters and I fell in love with him. He was always to kind and encouraging to me, even when he found out I was going out with Sasuke. He never took advantage of the fact when Sasuke and I ended it, never tried to step in to take Sasuke's place. He was too good for that. But the moment I saw him with Hinata in his kitchen, I felt so jealous and I felt that I could hate Hinata for getting the chance to be with him."

Ino pulled Sakura closed and held her, letting Sakura bury her face into her shoulder, as Sakura sobbed, saying what a horrible friend she was to Hinata.

Hours later, Sakura left Ino's house, giving her friend a weak smile, though she still felt like she was the worst friend ever. She had a lot to think about, and it would take a lot more than a crying session for her to work out what she really wanted. To make matters worse, though, she was supposed to be helping Naruto move Gaara in the next day after acting like a mental case earlier. She sighed as she let herself into her house and collapsed into her bed. She didn't fall asleep for a long time.

--

Earlier that evening:

Naruto stared at Sakura as she sped out the door, unsure of what was going on. He turned to Hinata with the most confused look on his face. "What just happened?" he asked, not really expecting an answer since Hinata looked just as confused as him.

"I don't know," Hinata replied quietly, coming up to stand beside him. He looked worriedly out the window as he saw Sakura pull out of the drive and vanish down the street. Hinata wanted to reassure him. "I'm sure she's fine," she told him. "She probably, um, felt uncomfortable or something for some strange reason."

Naruto slowly nodded, accepting this, though he still seemed concerned. He placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder and gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Hinata-chan. You're right." He sighed and looked at the ceiling. "With the look on her face, she probably doesn't want me to go after her. She looked a little sick. I hope she isn't coming down with something."

Hinata went to finish the meal, the light-hearted mood shattered after Sakura's strange reaction. She was worried about the other girl, but her gut told her that Sakura needed to be alone, or at least Hinata wasn't the one she needed to go to at the moment. It had been at the sight of Hinata that Sakura had so rapidly changed, but she could find no explanation for her friend's behavior. She resolved to call the other girl the next morning, so as to give Sakura time to sort herself out. Hinata just hoped that, if she were at fault somehow, Sakura would be willing to talk to her.

Feeling a little guilty for not going after her friend right away, Hinata set out bowls for herself and Naruto. Sitting down at the small table, the two of them served the stew that Hinata had so expertly made.

Naruto squirmed in his seat as Hinata took her time, dishing out the meal. It wasn't just the anticipation of eating that made him so excited. It was the first meal Hinata had made especially for him. As soon as she sat down, she watched him expectantly, a slight blush on her face. Eager to take the first bite, which was what she was waiting for, Naruto took a hearty bite of the food. She raised her eyebrows a little as she waited anxiously for his opinion.

"It's amazing!" Naruto said through a full mouth, putting his hand in front of his face to prevent any 'see food' incidents. "Hot, but so good!" He swallowed quickly and dug right in. Hinata blushed and began to eat her own food, though with less enthusiasm and with more moderation.

They ate in silence as Naruto helped himself to seconds of Hinata's good food. Eying the pot she had made of it, he grimaced a little. "Um, Hinata-chan? I know I eat a lot, but there's no way I can eat this all before it goes bad," he pointed out.

Hinata flushed a little and played with her spoon in her now empty bowl. "Actually, since we're all going to be coming over tomorrow to help out with Gaara-san, I thought that we could heat this up again so everyone could eat together after we finish," she explained. "Sorry. I should have asked before doing it. I'm sorry."

Naruto laughed. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan," he assured her. "That is actually a good idea. I hadn't thought about what we were going to feed a group of ravenous friends. You really saved me."

"It was nothing," Hinata said, blushing. They lapsed into silence once more, sitting at the table after having eaten their fill. Neither was sure what to do next. Finally, Naruto took the initiative and stood up, picking up the bowls. "That was absolutely delicious, Hinata-chan. Hand me your bowl and I'll start cleaning up, k?"

Hinata stood up quickly, clutching her bowl. "No, I couldn't let you do that. I made a mess cooking, so I should be the one to do the dishes."

"That's alright. You worked hard earlier, so I'll clean up the mess," Naruto said, trying to take her bowl.

"But this was for you, for helping me with my math. It would be rude to make you clean it up," Hinata argued, refusing to give up custody of the bowl. Naruto tried to tug the bowl out of her grasp, but she refused to relinquish custody. They struggled over this for a few moments before Naruto realized their fingers were touching. He released his grip as though the bowl had suddenly gotten hot.

Trying to cover his reaction up, Naruto put his hand behind his head, rubbing his neck, laughing weakly. "How about a compromise? We'll work together. I'll wash, you dry, deal?" Hinata nodded enthusiastically, flashing a brilliant smile.

An hour and a half later, after finishing the dishes and having an impromptu water fight, splashing each other with the soapy water, Naruto walked Hinata to the door. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Naruto asked her, concerned since the sky was rapidly becoming darker.

Hinata nodded and waved as she went down the sidewalk. The walk wasn't too far and she knew how to defend herself, thanks to years of kendo. Naruto watched her walk away, a smile on his face. Once she was out of sight, he let himself back into the house.

--

Hinata walked into her home as quietly as possible. Her father had had a very late meeting the night before and was more irritable than normal lately. Apparently, the contract with the other company was not proceeding as planned, and Hinata didn't want to get chewed out for coming home after dark. Though she wasn't his favorite daughter, he couldn't risk her being targeted by rival companies who might stoop to gain an edge in the competitive business field.

"Nee-san, what are you doing back so late?" her younger sister, Hanabi, asked, looking up from the television to watch her sister walk by the living room.

"Gomen. I was studying at a friends house and made him dinner as a way of saying thank you," Hinata explained, walking towards her room.

"_Him_? You mean you've been at a _boy's_ house?" Hanabi asked excitedly. She turned off the television to give her sister her undivided attention. "Who?"

Hinata sighed, knowing she had walked into that one and wouldn't be allowed to walk out of it. "It was Naruto-kun."

"Uzumaki-kun? But I thought he was off training for the rest of his life?" Hanabi said, a little rudely. "What could he possibly help you with anyway?"

"Indeed. What could that boy help you with, Hinata-sama?" a quiet voice asked from behind her. Hinata spun around to find Neji standing beside her. She took a few steps back in surprise, fighting an impulse to bring up her fists in defense.

"Neji-nii-san. Don't sneak up on me like that," Hinata demanded, trying not to show her surprise.

"Answer the question, please," Neji requested, barely sounding polite. Hinata knew that he didn't particularly like the blonde, but he did have a grudging respect for Naruto, even if Neji thought he was still a dunce.

"He was helping me with calculus, since he and I are in the same class," Hinata said carefully, to avoid stuttering. It was always best to be at her best around Neji so he didn't have anything to hold against her, truce between them or not.

Neji grunted. "That dobe can't possibly be of use," he said dismissively. He turned to leave the room. "Don't stay out so late next time. At the very least, that baka should have walked you home, even if he was too stupid to have thought about it."

Hinata fumed, but said nothing, knowing that Neji held her in contempt and wouldn't care what she said in Naruto's defense anyway. She glared at his retreating back, one of the few times she allowed herself such a luxury. She turned back to her sister, who was still watching her with eager eyes.

"Are you going to at least tell me about it, nee-san?" her little sister asked. Hinata sighed and sat down on the couch next to her sister.

"I went to Naruto-kun's house after school and he helped me with my math homework and I made him dinner. Sakura-chan stopped by as I was making it, but she left almost as soon as she arrived with a funny look on her face. Which reminds me, I will need to call her tomorrow to make sure she's alright," Hinata added after a moment. "Anyway, we ate dinner and I helped him with the dishes before leaving. And, despite what Neji-nii-san may think, Naruto-kun did ask to walk me home. I just declined. It's not that far and I know how to take care of myself."

"Is that all, nee-chan?" Hanabi asked, looking bored. "I mean, after all the time he's been gone, all you did was do homework and eat? That's lame, onee-san."

Hinata sighed at her sister. "What were we supposed to do, eh Hanabi-chan?" Hinata asked. "Go out and join a bike gang?"

Hanabi giggled. "Oh yeah. I could see you doing that, nee-san. You, join a bike gang!" Hanabi burst out laughing.

"What's this about you joining a bike gang, Hinata?" asked her father from the doorway. He had a slight frown on his face, not liking the conversation at all.

Hinata jumped from her seat and bowed to him. "Good evening, oto-san. And no, I'm not in a bike gang, sir. That was just a joke."

Her father grunted before turning away. "Fine. Do as you please. But don't get into trouble. I wouldn't want you to fall into the hands of my rivals. They would not be kind to you." Hinata almost felt touched by his words of caution, if only he truly meant them for her sake. But she had long gotten used to the second hand concern for her safety from her workaholic father. She expected nothing more from him.

"Yes, father," she replied dutifully.

After he had left, Hanabi resumed her interrogation, or so it seemed to Hinata, of her sister. "Hey, nee-san. When did Uzumaki-kun come back? Did anything interesting happen at school today? What were classes like? Can you take me to the park tomorrow?"

Hinata sighed and answered her sister's answers all at once. "Yesterday, not particularly, they were fine, and no, I can't. I already have plans."

"Awww, nee-san!" Hanabi whined, despite being nine years old and too old for such antics. "Why not?"

Hinata sighed and got up from the couch, heading out. "I'm going over to Naruto-kun's tomorrow to help a friend move in with him. I will probably be gone all day. And Sunday I'll be teaching him how to cook, since we're partners in home-ec class." Hinata quickly left the room before Hanabi could ask her more questions. There seemed to no end to them and every time Hinata answered one of them, two more seemed to spawn from them.

She retreated to her own room, which was small by their house's standards, less than half the size of Hanabi's, but Hinata didn't mind. She didn't need a lot of space and it made her room cozier than a huge chamber would have. Her pale green walls contrasted with her dark blue bedspread on her twin-sized mattress. Her dresser fit snuggly next to her bed, next to her big window with its dark blue curtains closed over them. Her desk sat across from her bed, though turned so that she had a view of the outside from her seat when she was doing homework. She had a bookshelf in the corner that held a small collection of her favorite books and movies, along with some of her prized possessions, including a bracelet her mother had left her when she had passed away soon after Hanabi had been born.

Hinata dumped her bag next to her bed and collapsed on her bed, flipping over to stare at the ceiling, feeling insanely happy about her afternoon. She got to spend nearly the entire day with the blonde, after two years of only hearing from him in letters. The only bad part of the day was when Sakura had come and left just as abruptly, looking as if something terrible had just occurred to her. Hinata sighed and flipped back onto her stomach. Should she wait until the morning to talk to her friend? Something told Hinata that it was something that she did, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what. Hinata gave up trying to figure it out, since it was probably best to give Sakura some time to cool down from whatever it had been that had made her mad. Hinata would call her in the morning and make sure she was all right. If nothing else, she would see the pink haired girl when she came over to help Gaara move in.

Relieved to have a plan, Hinata got up and changed into a pair of pajamas, even though it was early, before settling down at her desk to work on the rest of her homework that she hadn't done because she had been working with Naruto.

--

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Not my best work, but that's okay! That's why I'm depending on you dear readers to tell me how to make me better! Please review by pressing that lovely little button below! Thanks!!


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry it took so long to update. I am now completely moved into my dorm at college. I had forgotten how much work school was. LOL. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Otherwise Sasuke wouldn't so emo and you wouldn't be able to hide weapons in Lee's eyebrows.

**Chapter 8**

Gaara had packed his few possessions in a single night. In fact, it fit in two duffle bags and three boxes. Temari and Kankuro, his siblings had helped, but that just made the simple task that much faster. So when Naruto and his 'lackeys' showed up the following morning just before noon, all he had to do was lock the door behind him and return the key to the baa-chan who ran the boarding house.

Gaara sat in Sakura's car in silence, not joining in Naruto and Sakura's chatter, silently watching as buildings flashed by. He had never been a chatty person, especially before he met Naruto at the first and last nationals Naruto had been to. He had, in fact, been a very antisocial, violent person. Living in the household that he had, it seemed almost obvious that he would turn out bad. He was surprised his siblings weren't like him. Then again, their father hadn't used them as his favorite whipping post. That was Gaara's station.

Naruto had been his opponent nearly a year after Gaara's father had died of alcohol poisoning, but the drunk's effects on the boy hadn't faded. In fact, they seemed to get worse and worse, thanks to his aggressive coach, Shukaku. It had taken Naruto beating the crap out of him and then offering his hand to shake afterwards with a huge, warm, contagious grin on his face to begin shaking off the effects. But that had just been the start.

Soon, Naruto was continuously hanging out with him at the competition. Being a two weeklong ordeal, and having fought the blonde on the second day of it, Gaara saw a lot of Naruto. In fact, Gaara was hard put to think of a time where he wasn't with the blonde, except with he was in his room, sleeping. But that was only when he had kicked the persistent boy out of his room after midnight, after chatting for several hours with room service food lying all around the room.

Being bombarded with a person like him for so long without stop had an effect on him. Especially when Gaara saw first hand how Naruto was treated by others. He was more than likely treated with hate and disdain, but the entire time, Naruto was smiling at Gaara and enjoying himself, ignoring the hateful stares of the others who knew about his past. One that differed from Gaara's, but still left the boy as alone as he was. And so Gaara was inevitably drawn into Naruto's traper-friendship and Gaara never looked back.

So that was why, two and a half years later, when Naruto offered him a place to stay, Gaara didn't just shrug it off like he had Temari and Kankuro. Both shared an apartment in the city while they attended a nearby university. But living with his siblings meant far too much bother than it was worth and his siblings deserved a space where they didn't have to deal with him and his mood swings all the time. Sixteen years had been enough.

"Oy! Gaara!" Naruto called to the back seat as the car came to a stop, effectively jarring Gaara from his thoughts of the past. "We're here. Home sweet home."

Gaara looked out of the window, his face blank as usual. It was small, but big enough for two friends to share, so long as they didn't mind getting in each other's hair now and then. Gaara wasn't looking forward to that, but he accepted it as the inevitable. Naruto was one who got in your hair more often than not and Gaara was prepared to ignore his friend when it suited him.

Just as the three got out of the car, two other cars pulled up, signaling the arrival of the rest of the moving party. Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Ino climbed out of Shikamaru's beat up old car, which he couldn't be troubled with cleaning, though secretly he worked on it every weekend to fix it up to run better. When he was asked by Ino why he didn't think that was too much trouble, he replied that it would be even more of a drag for it to breakdown somewhere when he was trying to get somewhere. Really, he just liked to work on his car. TenTen and Hinata climbed out of TenTen's truck behind the others.

The group gathered around Sakura's car where Gaara stood, a duffle bag slung over his shoulders. Looking into the car for the remaining items, the group was a little surprised to see the lack of stuff.

"Don't tell me that's all you have," Shikamaru complained. "I came all the way over here today just for that?"

"Oh, shut up, Shika-kun," Ino snapped, using the nickname he hated to spite him. "It's not like you had anything better to do today." He grunted in reply, scowling off down the block.

"Let's just get this stuff inside," Naruto suggested. "That way, we can just hang out once we're done." The others agreed and quickly Sakura's car emptied of moving boxes.

Once inside, Naruto led the group to the empty room on the first floor he had no idea how to fill until now. He had already moved in the bed that was supposed to be Jiraiya's and a dresser, but thought it best to leave the rest up to Gaara.

"Hey, dobe. What's with all the other boxes all over the place?" Sasuke asked, hefting a box onto the bed to rest for the moment.

"Those are mine, teme," Naruto told him. "I haven't quite had time to finish all my unpacking yet."

"Don't tell me you expect us to help you move in," TenTen sighed wearily.

"Course not," Naruto said with a shrug. "We're just here to move Gaara in. I can do the rest myself later when I get the time."

Sasuke sighed and looked around. "With school and all that crap, you'll be lucky to be finished unpacking by the time you finish high school."

Ino sighed, but agreed. "So why don't we help Naruto out too, since we are here," she suggested. "It looks like we'd be done sooner than it took to get here otherwise."

His friends nodded and dispersed to the separate rooms to begin unpacking Naruto's things. "Wait, I didn't- you don't have to-" Naruto protested, putting out a hand to stop them in vain. Hinata, who had stayed, giggled at him. He turned to her, a wide-eyed confused look on his face. "But, I could take care of it myself," he told her, throwing up his hands helplessly.

She laughed a little at him. "It just shows that they care about you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto sighed and gave her a small smile. After a second, he turned to Hinata and asked," Did you ever get a hold of Sakura-chan? I was worried about her, but when she came by this morning, she was acting as though nothing had happened."

Hinata shook her head sadly. "No, when I called this morning, she seemed to avoid the question, but I'm not sure. I can't remember what she said when I asked her about it."

Naruto sighed, but gave her a smile and a clap on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it, Hinata-chan. She'll tell you about it when she's ready." Hinata looked up at him gratefully and he gave her his trademark grin. "If you'll excuse me," he said at the sound of a small crash, "I'm going to go and make sure nothing valuable falls into Ino's hands." With that, he took off down the hall at a jog to prevent disaster at the hands of the group's klutz.

A few hours later, after Naruto had finished running laps back and forth to direct the sudden help and to stop disasters before they began, both Naruto and Gaara were thoroughly moved in and, in Gaara's opinion, in serious need of some down time. Unfortunately, the others had heard about the pot of stew waiting for them, so Hinata went to the kitchen to heat it up while everyone else cleaned up. Naruto thought he saw Sakura watching Hinata walk into the kitchen with a strange look on the girl's face, but it was gone when she turned to him, so he dismissed it for the time being, but kept it stored to ask about later.

It was late evening when he finally ushered his friends out the front door, after making plans with Hinata to come by the next day to help him cook. Gaara gave a silent wave to Sakura as she pulled away, the last person to drive home for the evening.

"Ugh," Naruto moaned, stretching and arching his back to crack it. "No offense to friends, but that bunch is more trouble than they're worth sometimes." He looked down the street where the troublemakers had disappeared with a fond smile on his face. He followed Gaara into the house.

"I'm going to go relax," Gaara told him, pointing to the living room.

Naruto nodded. "I might join you in a little bit. Just need to clean a few things up in the kitchen." Gaara nodded and went into the living room. He sighed to himself, thinking that he had wanted to relax-_alone_. Knowing Naruto, he would pester Gaara about everything under the sun and think that it was relaxing.

He slumped into one of the chairs near the window and looked around the room, absorbing his new living space. The room had pastel green walls and a mahogany floor with a deep forest green rug in the middle. The furniture was a soft red color and well broken in without being beaten looking. Thin off-white curtains could cover the window, though with the day warm, the windows were thrown open to catch the breeze. Gaara released a breath and stared out into the sky, savoring the short time before Naruto came blazing in like a blonde haired tornado.

Gaara glanced up when he heard his friend walk into the room, book in hand. He watched Naruto slump into another armchair, kicking his legs over the arm of the chair, flipping open the book. Gaara turned and gazed out the window once more, prepared to ignore his new roommate, waiting for him to interrupt the quiet.

He waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after a long silence, Gaara turned to Naruto with a frustrated look on his face. Naruto continued to read the book in silence, giving his friend the peace and quiet he wanted. When Naruto continued to leave Gaara alone, he began to feel an irrational irritation at his friend. Gaara wanted to relax in silence. And Naruto was giving it to him. Why wasn't the blonde interrupting him with the most inane, if mildly amusing, comments? It put Gaara on edge, thinking that the moment he finally managed to relax, Naruto would break the moment with some comment or another that Gaara didn't care about. So why wasn't he? Naruto read on, oblivious.

Finally, Gaara couldn't stand the wait anymore. He stood up in front of Naruto, glaring at the boy. After a moment, Naruto noticed he was being watched and looked up innocently at Gaara. "Something wrong?" he asked. That was the wrong thing to say in Gaara's mind.

"Why aren't you bothering me?" Gaara asked, though the moment he said it, he realized how stupid he sounded, but couldn't stop no matter what.

"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, confused.

"You heard me. Why aren't you yammering on about how you're going to be the greatest or how much you hate Sasuke's attitude, or some other inane and completely pointless annoying statements?" Gaara growled.

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. He suddenly burst into laughter, which caused Gaara to glare at him more. After a few moments of laughing, Naruto managed to get enough control over himself to reply. "You told me you wanted to relax, and to be honest, so did I," Naruto said, wiping his eye. "I honestly was going to leave you alone. I'll try to give you as much space as you need, since the house is so small and what not."

Gaara gaped at him and Naruto almost burst out laughing at him again. Gaara sighed wearily and sat back in the chair to stare out the window again. Naruto went back to his book with an amused grin on his face.

However, Gaara eventually noticed that Naruto wasn't turning pages anymore. Glancing over, Gaara was almost, but not quite, surprised to see that Naruto had nodded off over his book. 'So much for that studious attitude,' Gaara thought to himself, amused. He debated over whether or not to wake the blonde, but decided against it, thinking that he would want to be left in peace to doze whenever he wanted if he could fall asleep so easily.

The sun was setting when he had another interruption to his sky gazing time. This time, Naruto wasn't to blame for his distraction. Gaara sighed and stood up to answer the ringing phone. At least he had gotten in several hours of peace and quiet, even if the first hour or so was him waiting for noise he was sure would come.

"Hn," he said to the caller, indicating he was listening.

"Naruto? Is that you?" Sakura asked, sounding doubtful.

"It's Gaara."

"Oh! Well that's just as good," Sakura said cheerfully. She didn't elaborate what else would have been good. "I actually needed to talk to you some. Are you good at cooking?"

"What?" Gaara asked, staring at the phone.

"Are you good at cooking?" she asked again.

"I suppose," Gaara mumbled, shrugging even though Sakura wouldn't be able to see it.

Sakura cheered on the other side of the phone, causing Gaara to pull it far from his hear to retain any semblance of hearing. When he finally brought it back, he heard Sakura saying, "-meet you at your place around four tomorrow, k?"

Gaara sighed. "Fine." He pulled the phone away again as she squealed again.

"So how are things over there so far?" Sakura asked, obviously not done with the conversation when plans were made. "Naruto driving you crazy with his chatter?"

"Hn." Gaara grunted. "He's actually sleeping on the chair right now, after just sitting there and reading."

Sakura laughed and went on with the conversation, even though she did most of the talking. Gaara answered her questions with grunts and one-word phrases, but she didn't seem to mind.

When he finally hung up the phone a while later, he was surprised to realize he wasn't cranky about being kept on the line for so long. He shrugged to himself. Maybe Naruto's new, relaxed behavior was affecting him already. He snorted. Yeah right. He walked into is room, leaving Naruto to sleep on the chair.


End file.
